Sewer-gas trap.



. No. 327,324. PATENTE'D JULY 31', 1906.

I J. P. PUTNAM. SEWER GAS TRAP.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 16. 1903- v y 22W.

lab

WITNESSES} v v 11v NTOR.

nu nmnus PETER; co., wAsmna-mu, n. c.

" NIT STAWENTOFFIGE; *4

JOHN PIOKERING PUTNAM, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SEWER-GAS T Rl AP To all whom it may, concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN PIGKERING NAM, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewer- Gas Traps, of which thefollowing is a, specification.

' The object of my invention is to provide a water-seal trap which shall be secure against siphonage, back pressure, and other adverse influences tending to destroy the water seal of traps, and is an improvement on my inventions forming the subject of Letters Patent Nos. 625,899 and 706,255, dated May 30, 1899, and August 5, 1902, respectively.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a.horizontal section, and Fig. 2 a vertical section, of the 6 is a perspective view ,of the trap set in the apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is'a view of the top of the device looking down. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the trap openedan'd the cover and its coupling-nut and its washer or gasket raised above the'body of the trap. Fig. 5 is a combined perspective view and vertical section of the trap as it appearsset in a tiled floor, and Fig.

floor-and having the cover removed to show the interior construction. In this view part of the floor-tiling and concrete is removed to show the outside of the trap-body. Fig. 7 is a modification of the positions of inlet and outlet pipes.

' Similar letters refer to similar p arts through out. the views.

Biis the body of the trap in the form of. a

shallow vessel having considerable horizontal. extension. I

S is a spiral partition set in the vessel and divid ng it into a continuous spiral waterway extending fromthe inlet-mouthI of the trap to the outlet-mouth O, which is in the center of the trap. I donot wish, however, to confine myself to this precise arrangement of the inlet and outlet pipes, 'as they maybe reversed, as shown in Fig. 7, the inlet being at or near the centerand the outlet at one side, without affecting the principal features of myinvention.

C is a cover to the vessel, secured to the body B by means of a nut N, screwed upon a threaded rod B, passing through the center of the cover. The rod R is rigidly connected with the top of the tubeT. The cover makes.

conditions during a a water-tight connection with the body B by means of the rubber washer W, which sets in. a groove, in the top edge of the vessel B. The cover 0 is polygonal in shape and perfectly flat to conform tothe shape of tile work in which it is intended to be set, while thebody Bis circular to correspond with the spiral partitions within. I prefer to constructthe cover of enameled metal or tile, either white Patented July 31, 1906.1

or colored, to correspond with the restof the tile work in which it is to be placed.

The operation of my trap under normal discharge of water from the fixture with which it is connected is as follows The waste water discharged from\ pipe P and trap-bend B and enters the body B through the inlet-mouth I. The splral partition S causes the water to circulate in the body, rapidly scouring the sides of the spiral waterway from entrance to outlet 0. When all the water in the fixture has escaped, theflow ceases and water stands inthetbody of the trap up to the level of the outlet-opening O. The smooth unbroken course of the waterway,'due to the continuous spiral partition, permits of a more rapid disthe fixture rushes down through'the inletthe bottom of charge of the water and a more efficient scouring action than is poss ble witn any other form of trap of whichI am aware in which the course of the water is always more] I or less broken and interrupted, .the ordinary. S-trap being excepted. Moreover, all parts of the passage-way throughout my trap having the same sectional area-with all partsof the inlet and outlet pipes, the maximum ef fect of scour is obtained, and the body of the trap is-thus kept as clean and free of sedi- M ment as any part of the inlet or outlet arms.

Under the abnormal conditions produced by siphonage the action of my device is as follows: A partial vacuum in the waste-pipe caused by a falling plug of water inthe soilpipe causes a suction on the outlet side of traps connected with the waste-pipe affected or, more scientifically speaking, a diminution of the normal atmospheric pressure on the outlet side of the trap. Air then presses upon the inlet side of the trap-seal to restore the equilibrium, and this pressure lowers the column of water in the downcast limb P of the trap, throwing an amount of water e uivalent tothe contents of this downcast lim out .of the trap, the trap previously standing full of water u to the outlet-opening O. The downcast imb and its bend having thus lost their contents of water, air follows and escapes through the reservoir-chamber to the outlet, passing above the water therein. If the siphonage is very powerful, this air will by its friction against the water in the spiral passage-way drive some of it before it out nto the waste-pipe throu h the outlet-openmg; but the movement 0 the air and water being under such siphonage very rapid a strong centrifugal action is set up in the fluids in circling round and round in thespiral passage-way, and this centrifugal force separates the heavier fluid (the water) from the lighter (air) and forces the former against theouter walls of the spiral, to which it adheres, while the lighter air tends to hug the inner walls, because along them it finds the shorter and easier route to the outlet. The

=larger the number of spirals in the trap between the inlet and outlet openings the more time and space is allowed for this separation of the water from the air by centrifu al force, and correspondingly the greater wil be the 7 power of resistance of the trap against loss of its seal through siphoning action. All the drawings show traps having a suflicient number of spirals to resist the most powerful s phoning actions likely to occur in ordinary plumbing; but the resistance of the tra shown in Fig. 6 is much less than that of the traps shown in the other drawings. In virtue of this spiral arrangement of the partition in the reservoir the sectional area of the waterway throu hout can be reduced to a size just equaling t at of the inlet and outlet arms without destroying the resisting power of the trap to siphoning action nor retarding the outflow of the water in normal use more than would be'done by a smooth straight pipe having equal pitch.

I What I claim as my vention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A sewer-gas trap havingan inlet-arm and an outlet-arm and a reservoir-chamber between them, the chamber being provided with a partition forming a continuous, uninterrupted sprial waterway, one end of which connects with the inlet and the other with the outlet arm.

' 2. A sewer-gas trap having an inlet and an outlet arm and av reservoir-chamber between them, the inlet-arm entering the reservoirchamber at a point below the connection with the chamber of the outletarm, and the outlet-arm connecting with the chamber at a point below the top thereof, the chamber being provided with a spiral partition-wall forrlning a continuous waterway from inlet to out et.

3. A sewer-gas trap having an inlet-arm bottom thereof at one end and an outlet-arm and a reservoir-chamber l between them, the chamber being divided by a partition forming a continuous uninterrupted spiral waterway one end of which connects with the inlet and the other with the outlet arm, the sectional area of the passage-way and that of the inlet and outlet arms being approximately equal throughout.

4. In a trap the combination with a body having a continuous uninterrupted spiral passage, of an Outlet-passage opening into the trap-body at a point elevated above the of the spiral, and an inlet-pipe opening into the trap-body at the other end of the spiral at a level below that of the point of communication between the body and the outlet.

5. A sewer-gas trap having an inlet-arm, an outlet-arm and an intermediate reservoirchamber, the outlet-arm consisting of a tube passing through the center of the chamber from bottom to top and having an inlet-port consisting of a perforation through the tube at one side and near its top, the bottom of the perforation being above the bottom of the chamber, and the inlet-tube entering the chamber at a point below the bottomof the perforation.

6. A sewer-gas trap having an inlet-arm, an outletarm, and an intermediate reservoirchamber, the outlet-arm passing through the center of the chamber from bottom to top, the top of the chamber being removable and .being held in place when closed by means of a nut screwed to the end of the outlet-arm.

7. A sewer-gas trap consisting of an inletarm and an outlet-arm, and an intermediate chamber, the chamber consisting of an uninterrupted spiral waterway, the inlet arm connecting with the spiral at one end and the outletarm connecting with it at the other end, the overflow-mouthof the outletarm being above the mouth of the inlet-arm so as to form a trap.

8. In a trap the combination with a body having a continuous uninterrupted spiral passage, of an outlet-passage opening into the trap-body at a point elevated above the bottom thereof at the inner endof the spiral, and an inlet-pipe opening into the trap-body substantially at the outer end of the spiral, at a level below that of the point of communication between the body and the outlet, the cross-sectional area of the spiral passage approximating that of the inlet-pipe.

9. In a trap the combination with a body having a continuous uninterrupted spiral passage, of an outlet-passage opening into the trap-body at a point elevated above the bottom thereof at the inner end of the spiral, and an inlet-pipe opening into the trap-body substantially at the outer end of the spiral, at a level below that of the point of communication between the body and the outlet, the inlet-passage, outlet-passage and spiral IIO passage being approximately eqilai in crosschamber so as to make with it a Water and seotlon. air tight joint. y lo 10. In a trap the combination of an in1et- In testimony whereof I. have afiiXed my arm and a reservoir-chamber having a resignature in presence of two Witnesses.

movable top, and an I outlet-arm passing JOHN PICKERING PUTNAM.

through the center of the chamber from bot- Witnesses! tom to top, and'means on the upper end of ROBERT D. WESTON SMITH the outlet-arm for'forcing the top upon the CHARLES WALOOTT. 

